Commentary on the Rig Veda

HYMN 18

There are six hymns in the fifth Section. Of these the first beginning with somānam etc., has nine Riks. The Rishi and metre are as before. The deities are Brahmanaspati, etc. as will become clear in the explanation of the meaning of the Mantras.

This is the first Rik.

1. somānam svaraṇam kļņuhi brahmaṇaspate, kakșivantam ya ausijaḥ.
   somānam svararam kļņuhi brahmaṇaḥ pate kakşivantam yaḥ aušijaḥ.

The presiding deity of the Mantra is Brahmanaspati by name. We will expatiate upon the import of this deity later while commenting upon the hymn to Brahmanaspati commencing with uttiṣtha.

brahmanaspate O God of this name; somānam me who pours the libation (sun to press; on that termination manin), who prepares the drink that is pressed out; svaraṇam (svị to sound, to heat) come to light; kļņuhi make; kaksivantam the Rishi of this name, ’like him’, this is to be inferred; yaḥ the Rishi who; ausijaḥ was the celebrated son of Ushik.

This is the comment of the ancients. The inference of the word ’like’ is unnecessary as purport is possible even without it. The historical Rishi Kakshivan is well-known and alluded to in many places in the Rik Samhita. In the esoteric interpretation, the purport is to be understood following the constituent meaning of Ushik and Kakshivan. Explaining this Rik, Yaska says: kakșivān one with girth ; ausijaḥ son of Ushik, Ushik from vac, attractive glow. But this one may be intended as of human armpit. In that case usik means lustrous or lustre ; son of that is taijasa, the luminous; kakșivān secretful, that is to say who has the mystery of the supreme Godhead, as the word kakṣa is well-known to mean deep or hidden. This must be understood : Durga Acharya explains this without inferring the word iva. He says: ’It can be otherwise; Me who presses the Soma, Kakshivan son of Ushik, make me—so qualified—come in the light, O Brahmanaspati.’

This is better : I, Aushija, who am born of lustre, the lustrous, me, somānam who pours the libation, kakșivantam who knows the supreme, mystery ; svaraṇam manifested, well-known among the Gods; kļņuhi do make, O Brahmanaspati.

Tr. O Brahmanaspati, me the lustre-born who pours the libation, knows the supreme mystery, make me come in the light.

This is the second Rik.

2. yo revān yo amivahā vasuvitpușțivardhanaḥ, sa naḥ sişaktu yasturaḥ.
   yah revān yaḥ amiva’hā vasu’vit pușți’ vardhanaḥ saḥ naḥ sişaktu yah turah.

vaḥ that Brahmanaspati; revān opulent; yaḥ and who; amivahā destroyer of the injurious (amiva has been commented upon, 1:12:7); vasuvit who helps to attain wealth (causal sense implied); puşțivardhanaḥ increaser of nourishment; yaḥ turaḥ and who is speedy (tura to speed); saḥ he ; naḥ us; sişaktu may become unified (sac to unify; 3rd conjugation) let him be always joined to us.

Note that by describing the special qualities of wealthy, etc., of Brahmanaspati who presides over the Mantra-words, the view of those who know the tradition of the Rishis, that by the Mantras all objects are fulfilled,—attainment of the desirable and averting of the undesirable, is indicated generally. Particularly indicated is that by the grace of Brahmanaspati there comes the discovery of all hidden objects, attainment of what is unattained, protection of what is obtained by its increase, manifestation of what is concealed, etc.—all these are accomplished by the greatness of the word. That is why in the previous Rik it has has been prayed : ‘Make me, Kakshivan, come to light’. In this Rik is prayed for the constant unification of the practitioner of the inner sacrifice with the Godhead of the word of the Mantras. So too in the subsequent Rik mā naḥ śamsaḥ’, it is said : Such is the greatness of the Lord of the Mantra that the votary of the inner sacrifice, with Him as the armour, cannot be touched by the speech powerful though it may be, of those who harm the sacrifice or who do not perform the sacrifice, or men who are possessed of demoniac qualities.

Tr. May he the opulent, destroyer of the injurious, obtainer of wealth, increaser of nourishment, the quick, unify with us.

This is the third Rik.

3. mā naḥsamso ararușo dhūrtiḥ praṇangmartyasya, rakṣā no brahmaṇaspate.
   mā naḥ samsaḥ araruṣaḥ dhūrtih, praņak martyasya rakṣa naḥ brahmaṇaḥ pate.

brahmaņaşpate O Lord Brahmanaspati ; araruṣaḥ of him who gives not, he who does not give to the Gods, does not sacrifice, who insults the Gods; samsaḥ telling ’āśamsā expectation, wishing for calamity’ says Skandasvamin; the speech expressing it naḥ us; mā praņak may not touch; so too martyasya of mortal man; dhūrtiḥ injury (may it not touch); naḥ us; rakṣa protect.

araruṣaḥ: rātih Vedic root in the sense of giving, Perfect participle in the sense of Perfect of that root is rarivān; one who is no rarivān, that is to the non-giver.

praņak : prc to touch, come in contact, 7th Conjugation Imperfect form. Rest is Vedic.

dhūrtiḥ : the root dhurvi to injure. On that the termination ti. They explain this Rik in a different order : araruṣaḥ martyasya dhūrtiḥ śamsaḥ naḥ mā pranak, may not the afflicting curse of the mortal who does not give touch us. Here according to Sayana, dhūrtiḥ is what afflicts, samsaḥ is a special mode of speech.

Tr. O Brahmanaspati, let not the calumny by the un giver touch us, nor the injury by the mortal ; guard us.

This is the fourth Rik.

4. sa ghā viro na risyati yamindro brahmanaspatiḥ, somo hinoti martyam.
   sa ghā viraḥ na risyati yam indraḥ brahmaraḥ patiḥ somaḥ hinoti martyam.

saḥ gha only the man who performs the inner sacrifice; viraḥ endowed with heroism; na rişyati does not perish (the root ris has the sense of injury. Here the termination is Vedic; ‘not injured’ is the meaning); yam martyam which mortal; brahmanaspatiḥ God Brahmanaspati ; hinoti hastens (the root has the sense of going and of progress, still it does not denote ordinary movement); whom indraḥ Indra hastens; so also whom somaḥ Soma (hastens).

In the ancient Vedic Yoga denoted by the term sacrifice, progress day to day and constant ascent are indispensable till the attainment of the riches of the supreme Godhead signified by the Truth-Light. Such a journey becomes possible only for one who is not indolent, is a hero, a striver and ceaselessly engaged in effort. Even there the cooperation of the Gods is needed. Therefore are declared Indra, the Lord of the Gods, Brahmanaspati, the source of his speech of potency and Soma, the strength of delight, as hastening the hero-worshipper.

Tr. Only that hero does not perish, which mortal Brahmanaspati, Indra and Soma hasten.

This is the fifth Rik.

5. tvam tam brahmaṇaspate soma indrasca martyam, dakşiņā pātvamhasaḥ.
   tvam tam brahmanaḥ pate somaḥ indraḥ ca martyam dakṣinā pātu amhasaḥ.

The three deities spoken of before are mentioned here. Dakshina is additional. And she is the Goddess of intuitive power of discrimination between good and evil, truth and untruth. By investigation into other hymns, by association with other deities and by the contexts, it is possible to fix her as an emanation of Ushas, the Dawn, which presages the day-break before the appearance of the Truth-Light. The word dakșiņā is derived from the root dakṣa in the sense given by us before while discussing the meaning of the term dakşa. The termination inan is used in the case of dru and dakşa.

tam martyam that mortal, the worshipper; brahmaṇaspati O Brahmanaspati; tvam thou; amhasaḥ from sin protect; pātu has to be changed into pāhi to suit the second person ; likewise somah Soma; pātu may protect; indrasca and Indra protect; dakșiņā and Dakshina protect.

amhaḥ : sin, same thing as nirſti, evil . The form of this evil is falsehood; that it is the constant adversary of the good has been demonstrated while discussing the meaning of the term bhadra.

Tr. Mayest thou, O Brahmanaspati, and Soma and Indra and Dakshina ; protect that mortal from sin.

Thus ends the thirty-fourth group in the first Chapter of the first Eighth.

This is the sixth Rik.

6. sadasaspatimadbhutam priyamindrasya kāmyam, sanim medhāmayāsişam.
   sadasaḥ patim adbhutam priyam indrasya kāmyam sanim medhām ayā sişam.

These four Riks ending with narāṣāmsa are devoted to the Deity Sadasaspati. Sadasaspati is Agni himself, or a special form of his. Here ‘adbhuta’ (wonderful) is the indication (vide IV Section of the Introduction). Referring to the last Rik ’narāśamsa’, Yaska says it is Agni. This has been considered by us while on the Apri hymn (I.13).

sadasaspatim God of this appellation ; ayā sisam I have obtained (ya in the sense of attaining, Aorist); of what kind ? adbhutam mighty ; it is a name of greatness, not wrong to say, wonderful; indrasya priyam dear to Indra; kāmyam desirable; sanim giver (san to give) or gift itself, that is to say form of gain ; medhām intelligence, that is conscious in the form of understanding. According to Sayana : I attained to the God of the aforesaid qualities to secure intelligence.

Tr. I have attained to Sadasaspati, the mighty, dear to Indra, desirable, giver, the Intelligence.

This is the seventh Rik.

7. yasmādſte na siddhyati yajño vipascitaścana, sa dhinām yogaminvati.
   yasmāt ște na siddhyati yajñaḥ vipaḥ’citaḥ cana saḥ dhinām yogam invati.

yasmād ṛte without which Sadasaspati; vipaścitaś cana even of the Wise, illumined seer; yajñaḥ na siddhyati the sacrifice does not succeed; though the Rishi may be of illumined vision, he learns the technique of sacrifice from Agni Sadasaspati only, hence without him there can be no success in sacrifice; saḥ this God; dhinām of the thoughts, that is of the conflicting thoughts that would arise to the pilgrim of the holy path; yogam relation, mutually harmonious; invati he attains, that is, goes for it. (iv to pervade on it, 1st Conjugation.)

Tr. He without whom even the sacrifice of the Wise succeeds not, the God effects the harmony of thoughts.

This is the eighth Rik.

8. ādȚdhnoti havişkȚtim prāñcam kļņotyadhvaram, hotrā deveșu gacchati.
   āt ļdhnoti haviḥ kṣtim prāñcam kļņoti adhvaram hotrā deveșu gacchati.

āt after, after the fulfilment of the harmony of thoughts up-borne by Sadasaspati; that God havişkştim he who procures the acts of oblation, him who is engaged in the inner sacrifice (Bahu-vrihi compound, natural accent on the first word); şdhnoti increases (causal sense implied); adhvaram sacrifice (the truth of which has been spoken of earlier) ; prāñcam proceeding superbly, of excellent movement (form of año to move with the prefix pra); kļņoti does; hotrā (term for speech) the speech that invokes; deveșu among the Gods ; gacchati attains to them.

Tr After, he increases the sacrificer, speeds the sacrifice, speech attains to the Gods.

This is the ninth Rik.

9. narāśamsam sudhệstamamapaśyam, saprathastamam divo na sadmamakhasam.
   narā samsam su’dhșştamam apaśyam saprathaḥ tamam divaḥ na sadma’ makhasam.

Narāśamsam Agni in the form of Sadasaspati ; apaśyam I have beheld—he speaks of his direct vision of the God; that this is of Agni is clear from this line of Skandaswamin: "These four Riks are of this deity since in these four Riks, is seen the activity of Agni of carrying out the sacrifice, offering the oblation, managing it and the like.’ Of what kind have I seen ? sudh? rştamam well daring, sudhỉk exceedingly sudh;k, sudhșştama extremely daring; saprathastamam most celebrated (one who is accompanied by publicity is sapratha, then visarga, exceedingly sapratha, saprathastama); divaḥ of the heaven (related to it); sadmamakha-sam na standing like the household Priest (makha means sacrifice; he who does it, the performer of the sacrifice, makha sacrifice in sadma house; makhasa means makha) ; I have beheld narāśamsa who stood like the household Priest in the heaven.

sadmamakhasam attained luminosity, transmutation of ha into kha, says Sayana. ’Though not so stated makhaḥ is the name for greatness. O Agni, the earth shines with greatnesses ;’so illustrates Skandasvamin’s commentary.

The sacrificial hall where the Gods arrive is called sada home. That is the inner realm of the Rishi who does the sacrifice esoteric, a realm wide and many-planed. Agni the Lord of this home, carrying the load of the sacrificer shines like the performer of the sacrifice in the house-hold of heaven.

Tr. I have beheld Narasamsa, most daring, mos celebrated, like the Priest in the household of heaven.

Thus ends the thirty-fifth in the first Chapter of the first Eighth.